Annual Population Survey in Scotland 2007: A Compendium of Labour Market Statistics

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Annual Population Survey ( APS) data for the UK for the 2007 calendar year were published on 26 June 2008. This report focuses on the 2007 results for Scotland. The Scottish APS data are sourced from the annual Labour Force Survey ( LFS) data (with a boost to the sample in Scotland). The LFS is the official source of labour market statistics such as employment, economic activity and unemployment.

This summary publication presents analysis on the labour market, education and training. Results are presented here at Scotland and sub-Scotland levels.

This is the fifth publication of this series. The report presents results for the 2006 and the 2007 calendar year. Although results for 2006 were published last year, the estimates for 2006 have been revised this year following a reweighting exercise to the LFS microdata. More detail on survey methodology and developments to the LFS and APS can be found in Annex A.

Annual data are also available on a quarterly rolling annual basis. A time series of the main economic indicators for the intervening time periods can be found in Chapter 4.

As survey results, these are subject to a degree of error and implied changes between the 2006 and 2007 results may not be significant and instead be within a given error range. Confidence limits for estimates should be taken into account, especially for changes over time (see Annex A for confidence limits).

Annex A provides information on the methodology underpinning the data and the reliability of results, Annex B outlines future developments, Annex C is a list of definitions and Annex D details the geographies used in the report.

In this publication, all levels are rounded to the nearest hundred (excluding table 20). Proportions are calculated on un-rounded figures and are rounded to the first decimal place. Totals may not equal the sum of individual components due to rounding. All results are based on the area of residence unless otherwise stated.

APS data (including confidence limits) for the whole of the UK and the regional/local areas within are available free of charge from the Nomis ® website - http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/.

The Nomis website also holds data on claimants of benefits, vacancies and employees.